23 October 2014 - The Philippine Consulate General in Vancouver reported that 151 Filipino crew members of the cruise ship M/S Grand Princess participated in the overseas voters registration conducted by the Consulate General’s Akyat-Barko mobile team on board the ship last October 17.

Philippine Ambassador to Canada Petronila Garcia led Team Philippines in Canada during the Akyat-Barko visit to the Grand Princess which had its brief stopover at the Port of Vancouver. She was joined by Consul General Neil Frank Ferrer of the Philippine Consulate General in Vancouver and Consul General Junever Mahilum-West of the Philippine Consulate General in Toronto.

The ship is the last cruise vessel visiting Vancouver this year as the autumn and winter season starts to set in. Since the Consulate General started its Akyat-Barko campaign in August this year, more than 1,400 seafarers were able to register for overseas voting. The crew members of the Grand Princess, many of whom have not voted for several years expressed gratitude for the visit of the mobile team.

Ambassador Garcia expressed her appreciation to the ship officials for their full support in promoting and encouraging the Filipino crew to register as shown by the huge turnout of registrants during the event. She congratulated the Philippine Consulate General in Vancouver for aggressively pushing the overseas voting campaign in order to reach the Consulate General’s  target of 8,000 registrants until the end of the registration period in October next year. The Ambassador reiterated the full support of Team Philippines in Canada for the overseas voting campaign. END